Spiritual passion – Wisdom From the Word

Out of His Presence

I was praying about what to write about and the Spirit brought to mind an experience from many years ago. It was the beginning season of a small group that grew and had a significant impact on many from a variety places and backgrounds. I have written about this in the past but with a different focus.

A small group of us were worshipping and as my friend Lynn was playing instrumentally on the piano words came to me and I began to sing, “I am here to worship, Intimate One. You are all I worship, Intimate One.” I don’t remember all of the words that emerged as Lynn played, yet I do remember that what produced them was an awareness of His presence, Jesus being real and tangible and a strong desire to submit to His presence and leading.

This was an ‘Out of His Presence’ moment. While we don’t often talk about it, there is a distinct difference between Yahweh’s omnipresence and His manifest presence. He can manifest His presence to varying degrees. On this occasion, though it wasn’t a lot of His presence, it was sufficient to move the hearts of a group of us and release a new level of worship. Any time He begins to manifest more of His presence, we have the opportunity to respond at a deeper level. Even as I wrote this, I felt led to pause and just fix the gaze of my heart upon Him. He responded by intensifying His presence and I was deeply moved.

In seeking to capture the importance of this idea I thought of a song that became popular a couple of years ago, Make Room. The song captures the heart of what I am seeking to express. One stanza says,

And I will make room for You
To do whatever You want to
To do whatever You want to
I will make room for You
To do whatever You want to
To do whatever You want to

The repetition of submission to His will and leading is a key theme of the song. It is reflective of what you are likely familiar with in Proverbs.

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; ⁶ In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5–6 (NKJV)

When we come into His presence and submit our will to His we are making room. It is from here, out of His presence, that life and revelation can flow. When we lay down our agendas and make room for His, the Spirit is free to move in our midst. A great example of this is the famous George Washington Carver, a former slave who became famous for his scientific acumen in the US and abroad. In his regular Give Him 15 posts Dutch Sheets recently wrote about Carver, his numerous agricultural innovations and his international fame. Most importantly Dutch wrote about the source of Carver’s wisdom. Carver lived by the above passage from Proverbs. He made room and sought wisdom from Yahweh and referred to his lab at the Tuskegee Institute as ‘God’s little workshop.’ Carver’s focus was on the Lord guiding his scientific discoveries and achievements, which were numerous!

Now back to us, if we, like Carver, recognize that what comes out of His presence is the opportunity to engage in worship, creativity, passion and wisdom it should encourage us to make room. Let’s do that.

Walk with Me?

Lately I have been thinking about walking, actually longing for warmer weather and the snow to be gone so I can go and walk freely in the woods. Given my limited walking over the winter with my second knee replacement three months ago this longing seems deeper than usual. Part of this desire is that when I walk in the woods and mountains my heart is drawn to prayer and worship.

With my desire for walking in mind I heard something that led me to reflecting on the first mention of anyone walking in scripture. We find it in Genesis 3.

⁸ And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Genesis 3:8 (NKJV)

Our next example of walking is in Genesis 5.

²⁴ And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. Genesis 5:24 (NKJV)

Not surprisingly the Hebrew word for walk means, you guessed it, walk or walking.

I have heard people suggest that the language of Yahweh walking is an accommodation to our understanding as God is spirit and doesn’t have a body. I respectfully disagree. The consistent testimony of scripture refutes that view. For example, in Genesis 18 three men visit Abraham. We later discover that two are angels and one speaking to Abraham is Yahweh. In Isaiah 6 Isaiah sees Yahweh on His throne. He has a bodily appearance. The same is true for Ezekiel’s encounters. There are other Old Testament examples as well should you choose to search them out.

My point in raising this is that I believe Yahweh was in the habit of coming to Adam and Eve in the evening in bodily form and walking with them. Something was passed down to Enoch that stirred him to seek out Yahweh and walk with Him. In the walking their relationship became so close that Enoch was taken from earth to heaven.

My experience is that there is something significant about walking with another. Decades ago, working on an adolescent psychiatric unit I found walking and talking with the patients more productive than sitting and talking with them in an office. A friend from church recently shared that in a supervisory role he was in there was an identified problem with an employee, he went to see him and said, “Let’s go for a walk.” After 20 minutes of walking the source of the problem was revealed. I have another friend who regularly gets away to the mountains to ‘walk with Yahweh’ and the fruit is evident in His life. Walking is an openness and intimacy opportunity and we see the pattern of walking with Yahweh further reflected in Genesis.

¹ When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. Genesis 17:1 (NKJV)

⁴⁰ But he said to me, ‘The LORD, before whom I walk, will send His angel with you and prosper your way; and you shall take a wife for my son from my family and from my father’s house. Genesis 24:40 (NKJV)

¹⁵ And he blessed Joseph, and said: “God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, The God who has fed me all my life long to this day, Genesis 48:15 (NKJV)

Walking with Yahweh was important both from the perspective of Yahweh and the patriarchs.

Now, I don’t want to stretch a metaphor beyond its usefulness but I believe there is spiritual truth and opportunity in the idea of walking with Yahweh, in particular outdoors. Research demonstrates that people working on difficult tasks do better when exposed to nature. It makes sense given our original habitation was a massive garden.

There is an expression, ‘Not all who wander are lost.’ It reflects being more than doing. I know that when I sense His drawing to walk and be with Him I become more conscious of His presence with me throughout the day. So, is He asking you to walk with Him? Is that something you will do?

Bing Videos Kim Walker-Smith Walk with Me

Sunday’s Coming

In recent years there have been a couple of popular contemporary Christian songs about Sunday coming. The implicit idea in them is that if we can hang on through the rest of the week and make it to Sunday, we will be okay. Now, while the songs may be okay if you are just hanging on, another perspective that comes to me is about Monday.

However, first, we look at Sunday and the purpose of our gathering. A couple of scriptures come to mind.

¹⁵ but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ – ¹⁶ from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. Ephesians 4:15–16 (NKJV)

²³ Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. ²⁴ And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, ²⁵ not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:23–25 (NKJV)

The two passages above address why we as His body gather. The Ephesians one addresses the importance of speaking truth in love to one another in order to grow spiritually. Paul also speaks of the importance of growth coming through what joints supply. The important point here is that a joint is a relationship between two or more parts. We need one another. The Hebrews passage is clear that we need to gather and stir one another to walk in good works. Again, we need one another to grow and walk out our callings. These are reasons for a Sunday gathering, or any other gathering of the body. To build up and encourage one another to walk out what Jesus has called us to walk in.

This now brings us to Monday, or any other day of the week. If scripturally a primary purpose of gathering on Sunday is to stir one another to engage in love and good works and to strengthen one another then we logically need to consider the end purpose of that, which Paul tells us.

¹⁰ For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10 (NKJV)

Given that Sunday is only one day of the week and God has prepared good works for us that means that we have assignments not only on Sunday but Monday to Saturday as well.

This means we need to think not only that Sunday is coming, but we need to look forward to Monday coming and seek to discern the assignment He has for us that day. Sunday we can worship and fellowship with our fellow believers then on Monday look forward to the opportunity to take what we have experienced out to our home and the marketplace.

In conclusion, yes, every seven days Sunday is coming. Let’s appreciate that, then let’s use it to embrace our calling the other six days of the week.

Earth Mirroring Heaven

Recently I wrote about Yahweh as the Cloud Rider (http://wisdomfromtheword.ca/the-cloud-rider/ ) and how we also see Jesus also described in scripture as the cloud rider. Here we will look at what He rides on, okay, only briefly, what is important is the idea of earth mirroring heaven. David made a very interesting statement in 1 Chronicles.

¹⁸ and refined gold by weight for the altar of incense, and for the construction of the chariot, that is, the gold cherubim that spread their wings and overshadowed the ark of the covenant of the Lord. 1 Chronicles 28:18 (NKJV)

The context is David describing all the preparations he had made for Solomon so that he could build the temple. The interesting part is his explicit reference to the cherubim over the seat of the ark of the covenant as Yahweh’s chariot.

We see Yahweh on His chariot in 1 Kings. Notice that contrary to what is popularly expressed, Elijah was conveyed to heaven by a whirlwind. The chariot is Yahweh making an appearance on the scene.

¹ And it came to pass, when the Lord was about to take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. 2 Kings 2:1 (NKJV)

¹¹ Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. ¹² And Elisha saw it, and he cried out, “My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!” So he saw him no more. And he took hold of his own clothes and tore them into two pieces. 2 Kings 2:11–12 (NKJV)

We also see Yahweh’s chariot in Ezekiel, just without the horses. It is very similar to John’s vision of the throne in Revelation. Thus, we see the tabernacle mirroring heaven. In constructing the tabernacle and the associated objects, Yahweh said to Moses that he was to follow the heavenly pattern.

⁴⁰ And see to it that you make them according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain. Exodus 25:40 (NKJV)

The same idea is reflected in Hebrews where the writer is contrasting Jesus’ eternal priesthood with the priests of Israel.

⁴ For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; ⁵ who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, “See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” Hebrews 8:4–5 (NKJV)

Lastly, we look at how Jesus’ function in creation.

³ who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, Hebrews 1:3 (NKJV)

Many modern translations have something like ‘His powerful word’ instead of the phrase ‘word of His power.’ Yet the latter is a more literal and accurate rendering from Greek. The idea is less about the power of His word and more about the continual release of it. Material creation exists because Jesus continually sustains it.

Having presented these ideas, let’s tie them together. Hebrews 8:5 describes the relationship between heaven and earth as the things of earth being, ‘the copy and shadow of the heavenly things.’ The spirit realm is the real realm and the source of everything that we see. Earth, however dimly, is meant to reflect heavenly realities. Just as Eden was the place of His dwelling at the beginning of creation when we look at the end of Revelation (the last two chapters) we see Eden restored but far more gloriously. It is the culmination, the summing up of all things and the final fulfillment of what Jesus instructed us to pray, ‘On earth as it is in heaven.’ The two will become one, fully and finally united. Earth will no longer mirror heaven, it will be transformed and absorbed into heaven. Thus, let us pray with this understanding.

⁹ Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. ¹⁰ Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:9–10 (NKJV)

His Inheritance

Ephesians contains an interesting phrase that is part of Ephesians 1:18, “the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.” In the preceding verse Paul’s prayer for the Ephesian believers, and by extension us, that the eyes of our hearts/understanding would be enlightened by the Spirit to under the import of this phrase. Given that, let’s dig in and see what this inheritance is all about.

There are two aspects here, who gains the inheritance and what the actual inheritance is. In examining the passage closely, we first discover that the ‘His inheritance’ refers to the Father. Paul’s prayer is about the ‘Father of glory.’ It is the Father who receives the inheritance. Now we look at what He is receiving? Understanding that requires backing up quite a bit, backing up to before creation. The following two verses come from what is known at Jesus high priestly prayer just before Gethsemane, His trial and crucifixion.

⁵ And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. John 17:5 (NKJV)

²⁴ “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. John 17:24 (NKJV)

We see two things here, Jesus possessed glory with the Father prior to creation and they lived in a loving relationship prior to creation.

Now we move to make sense of how this connects to the Father’s inheritance. We know Jesus and the Father lived in a relationship of love and intimacy. Scripture tells us what will happen to us that enables us to enter into that intimate relationship, it even tells us how it will take place.

²⁸ And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. ²⁹ For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. ³⁰ Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. Romans 8:28–30 (NKJV)

² Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 1 John 3:2 (NKJV)

Think back on Jesus’ prayer in John 17 and His reference to glory. Paul says we will be glorified! That is our ultimate destiny. John describes it much more succinctly, “we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”

The Father’s inheritance at the end is us, believers, fully transformed creatures that can live in deep fellowship with Him as Jesus has since before the foundation of the world, a whole new family with whom He can intimately interact. The Father inherits us! You are part of this! It is our calling!

Delivered up and Raised

We are in the Easter weekend, Good Friday has passed, Resurrection Sunday is pending. The significance of this weekend is that we have a Saviour who was born to die, yet not just to die, but to also be raised. After all, Paul was clear about the prime significance of the resurrection.

¹³ But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. ¹⁴ And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. ¹⁵ Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up – if in fact the dead do not rise. ¹⁶ For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. ¹⁷ And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! 1 Corinthians 15:13–17 (NKJV)

In Romans Paul is more succinct. Speaking of Jesus sacrifice he states it in simple terms.

²⁵ who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification. Romans 4:25 (NKJV)

The word ‘offenses’ refers to our transgressions or trespasses, in a word, Jesus was delivered up to crucifixion because of our sins. The other side of this is that Paul says Jesus’ resurrection was for our justification. Which means that we were pronounced righteous or acquitted of our sins through Jesus’ resurrection. Thus, Jesus’ death paid the penalty for our sins and His resurrection validated the efficacy of His sacrifice on our behalf.

We now move to Colossians for Paul’s further explanation of what transpired.

¹³ And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, ¹⁴ having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. ¹⁵ Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. Colossians 2:13–15 (NKJV)

Paul informs us that though we were dead, we were resurrected with Christ (made alive together with Him) and the charges against us (handwriting of requirements) were dismissed. The additional piece he adds is that Jesus’ sacrifice disarmed the spiritual powers arrayed against us. Thus, as we celebrate Easter let us give thanks for Jesus’ death and resurrection and by faith avail ourselves of the reality that our victory is not in our abilities. Our victory lies in embracing the fact of Jesus’ death and resurrection on our behalf and the truth that He is transforming us and bringing us to glory (Romans 8:28-30)!

Hidden for Us

An idea that has become popular in recent years is that God doesn’t hide things from us, He hides things for us. It comes from Proverbs.

² It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, But the glory of kings is to search out a matter. Proverbs 25:2 (NKJV)

In light of this idea, I am going to talk about something hidden in plain sight. Some of us likely grew up singing the song ‘We are Climbing Jacob’s ladder.’ Though I am sure Calvinists would have avoided it as it promotes a works-based salvation! That aside, let’s look at the various ways we encounter and understand Jacob’s Ladder in scripture. Our first and only explicit reference is in Genesis 28. After Jacob deceived Esau, he was sent away by Isaac to seek a wife from among the extended family in Haran. Verses 10-19 of Genesis 28 describe Jacob’s dream encounter with Yahweh. Jacob lays down to sleep and has a dream of a ladder from earth to heaven and sees angels ascending and descending on it. Yahweh is standing above it and speaks to Jacob and reaffirms the covenant He made with Abraham and Isaac. In the dream Jacob sees the following.

¹² Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. ¹³ And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. Genesis 28:12-13

In the morning Jacob realizes that He had slept in a place where Yahweh could be encountered, a place of access to, and encounter with, heaven. Following this realization Jacob names the place Bethel (House of God). As we move forward to the Gospels, we find this place of access and encounter described again by none other than Jesus! This takes place as Jesus calls his first few disciples.

⁴⁹ Nathanael answered and said to Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” ⁵⁰ Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” ⁵¹ And He said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” John 1:49–51 (NKJV)

Jesus is saying to Nathaniel, I am the living Bethel, the living house of God, the place of access and encounter. I doubt that Nathaniel received the full import of what Jesus said at the time, though he was the first of the disciples to recognize Jesus as the Son of God and promised Messiah king.

Now, other than being an interesting insight into scripture, how does this apply to you and me? We need to recognize that not only is Jesus our way of access to bridge the gap between heaven and earth, we need to look at how we do this. Scripture does tell us. We begin in Romans then move to Hebrews.

¹ Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Romans 5:1–2 (NKJV)

¹⁴ Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. ¹⁵ For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. ¹⁶ Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:14–16 (NKJV)

The point of these two passages is that as the true ladder to heaven, Jesus is our point of entry and we access the throne of grace through placing our faith in what He has done and continue to trust in the efficacy of what He accomplished through the cross and His resurrection.

The writer of Hebrews makes another important point about our access to the throne of grace.

¹⁹ Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, Hebrews 10:19–20 (NKJV)

The contrast here is between the old way of animal sacrifices and rituals and the new way, the once for all efficacy of Jesus sacrifice.

Now, I am confident that most of you reading this know how to use Jacob’s ladder, how to come to the throne of grace through confidence in Jesus’ sacrifice. However, the issue isn’t whether we know how, it is whether through Jesus we are daily coming boldly to the throne of grace in agreement with His heart to see things change here – “Your king come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven!”

A Hearing Heart

As we conclude this year and prepare for the next, I thought it would be helpful to provide an area of focus given the transition to a new year is often a time of reflection for us. To that end we will look at the need to hear both Jesus’ voice and His heart and look at how our hearing requires a particular posture of our own hearts. We begin with a verse that is dear to me.

¹ The preparations of the heart belong to man, But the answer of the tongue is from the LORD. Proverbs 16:1 (NKJV)

Most translations have the word ‘plan’ rather than ‘preparations.’ Yet the Hebrew word means to arrange or set up, thus I think preparations is the better translation. Imagine inviting someone over for dinner. My wife prioritizes having everything ready before guests arrive, which means I need to have the same focus. So, there is a plan for the meal but most of the work is preparing more than planning. The table is set, the house is cleaned, and the food is ready, everything is prepared.

In the same way, Proverbs tells us that we need to prepare our hearts, get them ready for fellowship with Jesus. I recognize that we can pray at any time and place. The day before I wrote this I went for a walk with a friend. Afterward we stood on the edge of the parking lot with hands clasped and my hand on his shoulder and we prayed as people drove by. I thought, if someone asked what we were doing I would say, “We are praying,” as in, it should be obvious and normal, though it presently isn’t in our culture.

While acknowledging that we can pray at any time and place, there are times of prayer, our meetings with the Father, that require a different approach – preparation. That preparation may include the time we set aside, the place where we meet with Him, and very importantly in our culture, the distractions we avoid. Like much of our culture, I am prone to the distractions of social media. I know that if I want to sit with Jesus and hear His voice and heart, I need to deliberately set aside the things that can draw my heart away. In short, I need to obey the scriptural injunction and prepare my heart.

While preparation is important in terms of space and distractions, another aspect is hiding His word in our hearts so that when we need to hear from Him the Spirit can bring to mind and highlight scriptures that we know. David put it this way.

¹¹ Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You. Psalm 119:11 (NKJV)

We hide His word in our hearts by reading and meditating on His word and His character (Joshua 1:8, Psalm 1:1-13, Romans 12:1-2, Philippians 4:8).

An example for me that I seek to integrate into all that I do is a verse from Psalms that I meditate on, reading and reflecting on it pretty much daily.

¹⁴ Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14 NKJV

Following David is a difficult task, and I find applying the first part of this verse much easier than the second. My words are generally just fine, my thoughts, not always the case. David began this Psalm extolling the grandeur of creation and then moved on to the immeasurable greatness of the Law before focusing in on how to walk uprightly before Him. Here is more context.

¹² Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. ¹³ Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, And I shall be innocent of great transgression. ¹⁴ Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:12–14 (NKJV)

David is saying that if the words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts are focused on Yahweh we will be kept from presumptuous sins and not engage in any great transgression. For me the additional part is that I will hear His heart. Paul presented this quite clearly in Galatians. He gave two lists of what we could choose to meditate on and then pointed out that we will reap from the field in which we choose to sow.

¹⁹ Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, ²¹ envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. ²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. Galatians 5:19–23 (NKJV)

⁷ Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. ⁸ For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. ⁹ And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Galatians 6:7–9 (NKJV)

In conclusion, to hear His heart we need to prepare our hearts to hear and receive. That requires intentionality on our part, which includes setting aside undistracted times, hiding His word in our hearts, and cultivating an awareness of His presence in our hearts and minds throughout each day. This creates a prepared and properly postured heart.

A Note – In January I will present some apologetics material and anchor it in scripture. I present this to provide you with tools to defend our faith in a culture increasingly hostile to it and derisive of it. If there is a particular topic you would like covered, please comment and I will have a look and see if it is an area I have material on or can research.

Encounters

Encounters with the Living God can change us. Salvation, the new birth, is an encounter, an event that initiates a process. As we then walk with Jesus we should be growing and reflecting more of His character. Paul describes this ongoing process as Christ being formed in us (Galatians 4:19) and it is seen in his teaching around the works of the flesh in contrast to the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:19-26) and the sowing and reaping principle he presents (Galatians 6:7-10). The ongoing process of spiritual growth is built on daily faithfulness. Isaiah described is as ‘precept upon precept, line upon line (Isaiah 28:10).

In a faithful daily walk there are also moments or opportunities of encounter. There is an expression, ‘Character isn’t formed in crisis it is revealed.’ What we have daily sown into our lives is what will be revealed when we encounter a significant challenge. We see an example in the life of Isaiah in chapter 6, in particular, verse 3-7.

³ And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!” ⁴ And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. ⁵ So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts.” ⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. ⁷ And he touched my mouth with it, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.” Isaiah 6:3–7 (NKJV)

Prior to this encounter, Isaiah had been prophesying judgement during the reign of Uzziah. After Uzziah died Isaiah saw Yahweh on the throne (John informs us this was Jesus – (John 12:37-41) and essentially said, ‘Oh no! I’m also in trouble!’ Isaiah shifted from pronouncing judgment on others to pronouncing it on himself.

When Isaiah saw Yahweh/Jesus on the throne he acknowledged that he was in need of cleansing. Then one of the seraphim flew to Isaiah with a live coal and when it touched his lips (Isaiah had been using his voice to pronounce judgment) said his inequity and sin were removed. As an aside, if you have an image of a cute cherubic figure in mind, banish that. Seraphim literally means ‘burning ones.’ These fiery creatures burned with holiness and zeal for Yahweh and His glory. Cherubim in scripture are similar, guardians of sacred space who protected Eden after Adam and Eve were banished and guard the ark of the covenant.

Now back to Isaiah’s encounter. The fruit of the encounter was a prophetic ministry that spanned decades (I once calculated it at 55 years, scholarly speculation varies from 40-60 years). It led to Isaiah prophesying Jesus’ birth, the restoration of the nation, the crucifixion and a number of other significant events with Isaiah being known as the ‘prince of prophets.’

Now the key here is not that Isaiah had an encounter, it is his response. I have sought to be faithful in my daily walk but I have also had encounters with His presence. I don’t claim anything like Isaiah’s experience, yet I once had an encounter where it felt like the Spirit unveiled eternity to me. It was a brief frightening experience that was only resolved in my heart and mind a couple of decades later. I trust that I responded correctly but don’t fully know. I do know that encounters with His presence are opportunities. Thus, I suggest, let’s daily walk with Him, seek His face and be prepared for encounters that drive our walk deeper.

PS – do you have something to share from your walk with Jesus?

With Thanksgiving

A note to start. I don’t write my posts in advance. I generally compose them during the week and do my final edits in the morning before I post them. However, I had been working on a post for awhile and set it aside and planned to complete it for this week. However, last Sunday I was reading the following passage and the phrase the Spirit impressed upon my heart was “with thanksgiving.” It never occurred to me at that time that I was writing and this post that I was preparing it for the time of our Canadian Thanksgiving. For me that means this Thanksgiving is significant to the Lord. Now back to scripture.

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. ⁶ Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ⁷ and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:4–7 (NKJV)

For me personally not being anxious and praying are easy things to walk out. Where I need to grow is in thanksgiving. Verse 6 basically says that we are to let our needs be known to the Father, but in the process we are to include thanksgiving. The reason for that is what we will now look at.

There are a couple of things to reflect on. The first is that thanksgiving changes us not God. It brings our hearts to a place of rest in Him. In fact, that is Paul’s main point, when we bathe our prayer needs in thanksgiving His peace will guard our hearts and minds. Interestingly Paul says nothing about answers to our prayers, his focus is on the effect that pairing thanksgiving with our prayers makes. Now it is easy to say that but it is helpful to know how it works.

I remember lines from a childhood church song. “Count your many blessings, name them one by one and it will surprise you what God has done.” The whole refrain is below, published by Johnson Oatman Jr. in 1897.

Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God has done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.

This is another part of pairing thanksgiving and prayer, a recounting of our blessings.

Practically here are some simple examples.

Father;

I thank You that You have given me life and breath,
I thank You for access to Your word and freedom to worship You in spirit and truth in this land where I live,
I thank You that You supply all my needs according to Your riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:10),
I thank You that you have placed X and Y in my life.

Obviously, you can generate your own list. I simply know from both scripture and experience that when thanksgiving is part of our prayer life our perspective shifts and hearts come to a place of rest in Him. We are then left confidently expecting Him to do what is best for our lives in our service of Him.

As a closing note, the theme of Philippians is rejoicing and thanksgiving, something Paul practiced and taught. Philippians is one of Paul’s prison letters and I am sure as he wrote from prison in Rome he reflected back on his prison experience in Philippi, where we see that after he and Silas had been beaten and put in stocks they were praying and worshipping in the prison (Acts 16:25). Let’s emulate his heart and as another song says, “Give thanks with a grateful heart.”